Guardia Dismantle Costa del Sol Burglary Gang

News Date: jueves, 29 de octubre de 2009

Guardia Dismantle Costa del Sol Burglary Gang

Homeowners on the Costa del Sol will be relieved to hear that another organised criminal gang, responsible for at least 20 robberies, has been arrested. According to officials, the criminals were about to initiate another torrent of break-ins in the Guadalhorce valley.

During the arrest eight individuals were arrested with drugs and stolen property being seized, thought to having a value of over 2,000,000 euros.

Operation Tartavell was launched by the Guardia Civil in May of this year after their attention was brought to the presence of a group of Eastern Europeans living a questionably lavish lifestyle in a luxurious home in the area of Mijas Costa, without any legitimate form of income. A concerned member of the public made the initial report to the police.

The organised crime unit began investigating the group in question, quickly identifying one of the members as a well-known criminal with a history of previous convictions. A surveillance team was put in place to watch the gang, the gang including three Albanian men and two Romanian women. Their conspicuous lifestyle involved regular visits to high-class luxury clubs, shops and restaurants, perhaps not the smartest move.

The Guardia’s surveillance indicated that the criminals were about to set to work on a new wave of burglaries, with their eyes fixed on several luxury-homes in the Guadalhorce Valley, which is when the investigators closed in on the gang arresting the three Albanian men, two Romanian women and three Spanish who were also allegedly involved.

These types of burglaries are nothing new to the Costa del Sol, as where there is money, there will always be individuals readily available trying to scam and steal from them. This reality is obviously not exclusive to Spain, but a global problem. It is with this in mind that it is always wise to act with a certain element of caution and common sense.

The group in question were said to, “Scout out homes and then commit night-time break-ins, often while the owners were at home asleep. They disabled alarm systems and acted silently, taking cash, jewellery and other valuables.”

Officials said that they would often leave with homeowners’ cars and would sell them to the Spaniards previously mentioned, who would apparently use the vehicles for trafficking drugs.

It is of some comfort then to hear stories such as this, reinstating the fact that the Guardia continue to successfully dismantle these groups, making the Coast a safer place to live.